Crows Like Things That Sparkle

was sold and married off to a monster. And on my wedding night… he tried to rape me. But before he could, gunfire tore through the walls, blood spilled and screams filled the air. And just like that… my husband was dead. I thought it was over. I was wrong. Because the men who killed him didn’t save me. They took and dragged me into a world darker than anything I had ever known and straight into the hands of a man far more dangerous. Now I belong to him…..Bane Valak. And in his world, there are only two choices, Obey… or Die.

I thought I was signing a job contract. I didn’t know I was signing away my freedom. When desperation forces me into the office of billionaire CEO Adrian Blackwood, I accept a six-month personal assistant role that feels too perfect to be safe. The money is good. The rules are strict. And the man watching me across the table feels like he already knows how this ends. Adrian Blackwood is cold, powerful, and terrifyingly composed — a man who doesn’t make mistakes. And he didn’t hire me by accident. As lines blur between professionalism and possession, I begin to realize the contract isn’t the real danger. It’s him. And the truth I was never meant to find — not yet.

My boyfriend passed away from illness. Before he died, he asked me to look after his only younger brother—Callum Ressler. I put Callum through college, and helped him build his company from the ground up. Then one night, after a round of drinking at some work function, he ended up in bed with me. While I wrestled with what we were to each other, I noticed something on his office desk: a photo of me, framed neatly beside an engagement ring. My heart stirred. I pushed open the lounge door, ready to finally talk about us. But just as the door creaked open, a white camisole fell at my feet. I froze. Callum pulled the covers tightly around a shocked female assistant. "Diana, ever heard of knocking?" he snapped. Face pale, limbs suddenly uncoordinated, I started backing out. But the assistant's timid voice stopped me. "Diana… could you hand me my clothes?" I ignored the hostility behind her eyes, grabbed the garment, tossed it onto the bed, and left in a hurry. Once I stepped outside the company building, Callum called. "Diana, you should really stop barging into my room like that." I laughed and agreed. From that moment on, I never stepped into his world again.

Five years ago, Carla left her soul mate in their rumpled bed in a rented house in Mykonos, convinced she doesn’t deserve him, and he comes back to her life the secret lover of her best friend. Carla’s childhood friend Thera is visiting Greece after ten years, bringing Jake Winters with her, her boss whom she has been a long time secretly in love with. But Jake turns out to be Tom Sawyer, the pseudonym he used as a male escort five years ago – and he is still hotter than sin. It did not take long to see that the passion that drove them that blissful whole week together drives them still. He remains the only man who makes her feel that happiness is possible, but giving in to him means betraying her best friend, even though it’s evident that they aren’t lovers. That Thera made it all up. Billionaire programmer Jake Winters took over a gigolo trip for a friend once five years ago and that changed his whole life. But the culprit in doing so left him without a goodbye. When he finally finds Carla again, she turns out to be the childhood friend of his sweet secretary. As fierce as she is in bed, she is as loyal to people she cares about and he has to clear the air between him and Thera because the only thing he’s thinking about is becoming Carla’s gigolo again. For life. And as soon as possible. Like yesterday.

At my engagement dinner with Greg Willis, the Rossi mafia family’s underboss, his assistant, Sydney Carlson, casually tossed a half-eaten cookie on his plate in front of everyone. Greg didn’t react. In full view of the guests, he calmly picked it up and ate it. That night, after we returned, I told him I wanted to call off the engagement. He rubbed his brow with his fingertips, his voice steady in that familiar, composed way of his, yet there was distance beneath it. “All this,” he said, “over a cookie?” “She already took a bite,” I corrected him. He fell silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, “Zoe, you’ve always been sensible. Why get hung up on something so small?” “I’m not hung up,” I said evenly. “I just don’t want to settle.” When he saw that I wouldn’t back down, something complicated flickered in his eyes. Then, his tone hardened, almost like a warning. “Think it through carefully. Don’t you regret it.” He was certain I couldn’t leave him. After all, he was a mafia underboss. There were countless people eager to take the position of Mrs. Willis, and I was nothing more than a minor employee at his company. What he didn’t know was that I had never coveted the title of his wife. All I ever had for him was love. But now, that love was gone, and once I turned away, I would never look back again.

Selene always believes that there’s always a reason for her to be happy, despite what’s happening in her life. She knew that one day life would be good for her and that she needed to invest in her future first. Wanting to be a doctor, like she had always dreamed, Selene studied and worked hard at the same time to become what she wanted to be. But she never knew that her last year in college would make it almost impossible for her to achieve her dream. Her life turns upside down as her path crosses with the acting Dean of their school. Uno Delacroix, the ruthless mafia boss and a businessman, is the man who revealed the truth behind her life that she never even imagined. And as her life changes, she also finds herself falling in love with the ruthless mafia boss who makes her feel that she’s worth everything. Will Selene be able to handle the changes in her life, or will these changes only lead her to a more complicated life?

My girlfriend, Clara Sutton, had severe mysophobia. Before every intimate moment we shared, she required me to disinfect myself thoroughly in advance. She even set strict rules about how often we could kiss or sleep together, and how long it could last. Without her permission, I was not allowed to touch her. I had always believed she treated everyone this way. I even secretly felt relieved, thinking that I must have been somewhat special to her. Then came that night at the bar. During a party, her childhood friend, Ethan Ford, drew a dare in a game of truth or dare. Then, in front of everyone, he leaned in and kissed Clara. Although it was supposedly a punishment for losing, they kissed deeply for a full five minutes. Our friends laughed and jostled one another as they turned to look at me. Only then did I realize that Clara’s obsession with cleanliness had never been a universal rule. It had existed simply because she did not like me. Disheartened, I asked for a breakup. But Clara soon regretted it. With reddened eyes, she begged me not to leave.

One night of freedom. One reckless dare. One one night mistake they never saw coming. Yukisha has a long-time suitor ready to fight for her heart. Xavier is bound by an arranged marriage — a pact meant to secure his future. But in the heat of that night, all plans faded away. Their secret encounter in a car sparked a fire neither could put out, a story that reaches far beyond that one night mistake. Will fate bring them together again? And can they fight against all odds for a love that seems forbidden?

Woo Hana Lim and Park Kaden Lee. She loved him since kindergarten. He never noticed her. When he started dating a girl called Scarlet in high school, Hana realized that it was a one-sided love, and she became cold and stopped going after him, swallowing her feelings. After a big betrayal and a fight, Hana was the one who took care of Kaden, and that was the night when they slept together. But unfortunately for Hana, when he sleep-spoke his ex-name and when he woke up, didn't recognize her either and that was the stopin. A week after that fateful night, Hana got accepted to Harvard and started studying abroad. Sometime after that, she discovered she was pregnant, with him, and kept that a secret from her family, which knew his, but she decided to have the baby. Now, eight years after that, she's famous abroad, her son, Taeyang is seven and a genius. After an accident, she had to come back to South Korea with her son, having to face everything she left behind. What is Kaden gonna do when he discovers that he has a son? What is her family gonna do when they found out that Tae-Tae's father was closer than they ever thought?

Kade Von Aragon, CEO of Aragon Airline, hates to be on limelight. Aside from the fact that he doesn't want any public attention, he hates the media because for him, they don't know how to respect other people. They're always invading one's privacy. On the other hand, Rizel Rodriguez works as a journalist and the one who's in charge in covering the life of the mysterious Kade Von Aragon. A lot of media companies want to have an article regarding the said bachelor but no one has ever done it because of how elusive the man is. But what will happen when he finds out that a certain journalist is following him and to make it worst, she's the daughter of his dad's mistress?